For fun I scanned an article about the PRR T1 locomotives form an old issue of Baldwin magazine. For the record, I got the magazine off Ebay.

You can see it at the link below. It takes a while to download, especially if you have a phone modem. But, I hope you enjoy it. I can read old Baldwin magazines and L&RPs over and over again, for hours at a time.

PRR T1 Article
hkading@rypn.org

We have a collection of those BLW magazines at our shop. I have read the article on the T-1's. I especially love the part where it says "in accordance with Pennsylvania practice, the left-hand cranks lead". Was the Standard Railroad of the World the only one that had this practice?

aw90h@cs.com

The Standard Railroad of the World? All the rest were deluxe! LOLLOL!

K4s1361@hotmail.com

The PRR was pretty much the only modern American railroad that did this; however, it was standard British practice. I have no idea why the PRR standardized this way; anglophilia, or the desire to be different, take your pick!

morven@byz.org

What exactly does left hand cranks lead mean anyway?

PRR T1 Article
hkading@rypn.org

> Was the Standard Railroad of the World the
> only one that had this practice?

Left hand lead was (is) around, though not too common. If you ever walk around Thomas the Tank Engine, you will see that he(?), she(?), it(?) has left hand lead. Maybe, with Porter located in Pittsburgh, they got an old PRR quartering machine, second hand, and that's what dictated it. Are any other Porters left hand leading?

Also, the V&T Lyon that the Strasburg is reproducing had left hand lead. You can see it in one of the photos of it in the scrap line. It was taken at just the right angle so you can see through the frames to the wheel on the other side.

> What exactly does left hand cranks lead mean
> anyway?

The two sides of the engine have to be at 90 degrees to each other, or they'd both be on dead center at the same time. One side therefore leads the other (in forward motion); it doesn't really matter which, you just have to make a choice. If the right side rods are at the top and the left side rods are to the front, the left side is leading, and vice versa. Clear as mud?

Come to think of it, how were the cab-forwards arranged?

> Come to think of it, how were the
> cab-forwards arranged?

Backwards.

Dave


irondave@bellsouth.net

That is MINIMUM Standard..... (except the G-fleet)

> The Standard Railroad of the World? All the
> rest were deluxe! LOLLOL!


Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
newriver400@cs.com

> > Come to think of it, how were the
> > cab-forwards arranged?

>Backwards.

>Dave

Gee, thanks, Dave. Actually, when I posted this question I forgot that when you put the cab forward, the right side of the engine becomes the left. Therefore it doesn't matter. End of discussion.

OK, so you got my point.

Here's some that I am trying to wrap my brain around left or right lead:

Garratt?
Kitson - Meyer?
The Ffestiniog double Fairlie?
Shays?

Do the designations change with direction and steam flow when the Mt Washington Cog hogs reverse?

Dave


irondave@bellsouth.net